A number of individual integrated circuit structures can be stacked and bonded together to form a multi-layer semiconductor structure, which is commonly referred to as a three-dimensional integrated circuit. The one key process in creating multi-layered structures is “layer transfer,” i.e., physically removing a thin layer of semiconductor material from its original supporting substrate and attaching the film to a dedicated anchor substrate (or more simply an “anchor”). When device layers from multiple, distinct substrates are all individually transferred onto a single dedicated anchor, a multi-layered three-dimensional structure is formed. However, due to the relatively small size and fragility of semiconductor substrates (e.g. thin films), a direct manipulation and transfer of each layer will likely cause physical damage to one or more of the substrates or devices on one or more of the substrates which form the multi-layered three-dimensional structure.
This problem is further exacerbated in that most integrated circuit processing operations include automated processing lines that can be difficult to control and/or adjust to accommodate varying degrees of size and fragility of the integrated circuit structures.